1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet roll producing apparatus for forming a sheet roll by winding up a heat transfer recording sheet, mainly used in forming bar codes, around an outer periphery of a core, and a core supplying apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
The heat transfer recording sheet is presently used for forming bar codes. This recording sheet is also called a donor, wherein a hot melt ink layer consisting of a binder of wax, resins, etc., and a color agent is laid on one surface of a thin, plastic film base, for example, of polyester. The ink layer of the recording sheet is overlaid on paper, and the back face of the recording sheet is heated by a heating means such as a thermal head to transfer ink to the paper, thereby effecting printing.
The heat transfer recording sheet as described above is wound up in a roll form around a core, and the sheet roll is used in bar code forming apparatus. Here, the heat transfer recording sheet is wound around the outer periphery of the core to form a sheet roll. The sheet roll of this type is formed in the following manner by a winding apparatus. First, a plurality of cores are arranged at equal intervals on a shaft, and the shaft is rotated by a rotation drive portion to wind the heat transfer recording sheet around the outer peripheries of the cores, thus obtaining sheet rolls. In this case, the cores need to be supplied to the shaft and the plurality of cores need to be arranged at equal intervals on the shaft, but a core supplying apparatus capable of meeting those needs has yet to be developed.
The present invention has been accomplished taking account of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet roll producing apparatus and a core supplying apparatus which can supply a plurality of cores to a shaft and which can surely set the cores at constant intervals on the shaft.
A first feature of the present invention is a sheet roll producing apparatus for producing a sheet roll by winding a heat transfer recording sheet, obtained by forming a transfer ink layer on one surface of a base, around an outer periphery of a core, comprising: a supplying apparatus for supplying a weblike heat transfer recording sheet; a waste sheet part forming apparatus, disposed on a downstream side of the supplying apparatus, for cutting a portion corresponding to a region between sheet rolls in the weblike heat transfer recording sheet and interposing a waste sheet part having a pair of adhesive portions located on both cut end sides, between the cut ends of the heat transfer recording sheet; and a winding apparatus disposed on a downstream side of the waste sheet part forming apparatus and having a winding portion for winding the heat transfer recording sheet around an outer periphery of a core to form a sheet roll, a discharging portion for holding the sheet roll thus formed before discharging it, and a cutting portion, provided between the winding portion and the discharging portion, for cutting the waste sheet part extending between the winding portion and the discharging portion.
A second feature of the present invention is a sheet roll discharging apparatus for discharging a sheet roll formed by winding up a heat transfer recording sheet, obtained by forming a transfer ink layer on one surface of a base, around an outer periphery of a core, comprising: a cantilever shaft supporting a plurality of wound sheet rolls and having a rotation drive portion; a tray provided below the cantilever shaft; and a stopper for pushing a rotation-drive-portion-side end of a sheet roll located on a rotation drive portion side out of said plurality of sheet rolls.
A third feature of the present invention is a core supplying apparatus for supplying a core to a winding apparatus for forming a sheet roll by winding a heat transfer recording sheet, obtained by forming a transfer ink layer on one surface of a base, around an outer periphery of a core, comprising: a cantilever shaft supporting a plurality of cores and having a rotation drive portion; a tray disposed below the cantilever shaft so as to be movable up and down and to move in a direction of an axis of the cantilever shaft as carrying a plurality of cores; and core stoppers provided at constant intervals corresponding to the cores on the tray and pushing the cores when the cores on the tray are made to be set on said cantilever shaft from the free end of the cantilever shaft.
According to the second feature, the tray with the stopper attached thereto ascends relative to the cantilever shaft supporting the plurality of wound sheet rolls. When the tray next moves to the free end side of the cantilever shaft, the stopper pushes the rotation-drive-portion-side end of a sheet roll on the rotation drive portion side. By this, the stopper pushes all sheet rolls to the free end side of the cantilever shaft, whereby the sheet rolls are successively mounted onto the tray.
According to the third feature, the tray moves in the direction of the axis of the cantilever shaft from the free end side of the cantilever shaft to the rotation drive portion side, whereby the plurality of cores mounted on the tray are successively set on the cantilever shaft from the free end thereof. In this case, the cores are pushed by the core stoppers provided at equal intervals on the tray, so that the cores can be arranged at constant intervals with accuracy on the cantilever shaft by the core stoppers.